Avatar the Last Dancer
by itshardtostealfatkids
Summary: All four nations compete in a dance competition to prove the better nation. Only the Avatar, master of all dancing styles, can bring them into peace after lies and murder have swept the competition and the world... no techinical terms so no confusion!
1. Dancers

**So, I thougtht of this while thinking of So You Think You Can Dance. Love it. And I'm like, if everyone from Avatar danced on that show, it'd be completely epic! So, anyways, I decided to do this story, and whether it be stupid or not, I'm rolling with it. :)**

**Enjoy this very AU story!**

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><p>Long Ago, Four Nations across the globe lived together in harmony. Every year, we celebrated culture and differences by holding the 'International Dance Match'. The Fire Nation danced hip hop the best, along with the newer "B-boy" style, as well as tango for the more classically tasted. The Water Tribe, both North and South, dance contemporary, a fluid take on ballet, but those who still cling to the classics dance the waltz as if they were in a hazy dream. The Earth Kingdom boasted their loud and spirited "broadway" and jazz. And then there was the Air Nomads, famous for their airy technigques in ballet.<p>

But everything changed when the Fire Nation caused a tragedy. Poison was given to the other contestnats and every single Air Nomad that the Fire Nation could find, all disguised as food. Now, imbalance hangs in the world. And as if that wasn't enough, the Avatar, master off all dance styles, went missing. Some believe he died, after ingesting poison, but I believe the Avatar will return to save the world...

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><p><strong>Chapter I.<strong>

_Oh geez. She's at it again. Why can't she just be normal? _Sokka asks himself as he peers over the edge of one of the glacier's hills.

What he sees is an all too familiar sight. Katara, his younger sister, dancing. Again. She lifts her leg up this time around, pointing her toe before she straightens her foot rigedly, falling onto both feet, hunching over. She straightens, spinning on the ball of her foot, stopping, then holding her arms out as if to reach for something long desired.

Finally, Sokka leaps over the hill, sliding down on his heels. "Katara!"

She freezes, looking over her shoulder at her older brother. "What?"

"You're supposed to be helping me hunt! Instead you're acting like you're..._possessed_," he jeers, waving his hands around.

She stabs her spear into the snow, crossing her arms. "Sokka, I am _not_ possessed. I'm dancing. And you're overreacting. Gran Gran says people used to dance all the time."

"Yeah, they _used_ to. Not anymore, Katara. You need to get your act together. Dad left it up to us to take care of the village."

"I know that!" she replies, her face growing red. "But maybe I don't want to hunt!" On that note, she tosses her spear far down the glacier plain. Riddled with anger, she sits in the snow, staring into the everlasting white.

With a sigh, Sokka stakes his weapon in the snow as well, sitting next to his sister.

"Well, what _do_ you want to do?" he asks her.

The anger drains from her eyes, replaced with ashamedness. "I...nothing. It's stupid."

"Stupider than when I tried to take one fish hook out of my mouth with a different fish hook?" Sokka wonders aloud. Katara giggles.

"Okay. Well, I want...I want to preform in the International Dance Match," she says with a smile.

"What? Katara, don't be-" Sokka stops himself, catching the look on her face. The 'don't even start belittling me' face.

She sighs. "It's not going to happen, I know."

"No, no, it's not that. It's just...a little _dreamy_," he pokes.

She stands on her two feet, commenting, "Yeah, well, you don't have _any_ dance skills what-so-ever, so..." as she walks to pick up her spear.

Shuffling through the snow, tears form on the rim of her eyes as she thinks about her dream that's really nothing but a dream.

As she grabs the handle of her spear, she gasps. "SOKKA!"

His head snaps up as she calls for him desperatley. The older brother yanks his machete out of the ice, sprinting after his screaming sister.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" he asks, his heart racing.

"There's somebody. Somebody beneath the ice," she says, peering through the ice.

"Wha?" Sokka falls to his knees, wiping away the flaky snow, squinting through the icey ground skeptically, until he locks eyes with it. "Ah!" he shrieks, falling back.

"We need to get him out of there!" Katara shouts, picking away at the ice with her spear. Sokka grabs her arm, trying to pull her away. She slaps his arm away, thrusting once more into the ice before she's blown back by a trapped gust of wind. She slams into Sokka as they both slide through the snow, watching the body as well as something giant and fluffy shoot into the sky. Katara scrambles foward, holding her arms out as the lanky body lands in her arms, taking them both down.

She hears her brother shouting at her but is too preoccupied to care.

"Are you okay?" she asks the unconcious boy. His head is shaven, his eyes closed peacefully as if he was sleeping. Suddenly those pale eyelids flutter open, a groan escaping the boy's thin lips.

"Nngh. Wha...who're you?" he asks.

"Katara," she says with a small smile, lying him on the snowy floor. "What's yours?"

"Aang..." He pulls himself into a sitting position, very slowly. "Where am I?"

"The South Pole...you were under the ice. It's a miracle you're alive."

"I don't feel like a miracle," he says, holding his head in his hands.

"Katara!" Sokka pants, sliding along the ice to their resting spot. He fumbles with his machete, pointing it at the bald boy. "Who are you? What're you doing here?"

"Sokka, stop it," Katara says, shooing his weapon away. "This is Aang." As the siblings glance upon their 'miracle' they exchange a look before they help him to his feet.

"Come on," Katara mutters, slinging his arm over her shoulder as Sokka does the same. "Let's get you home."

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><p><strong>So, thats the beginning. I'll probably post the next chapter very soon.<strong>

**I didnt want it to be a word-for-word copy of the series so its going to be quite different. Ifin' ya'll dont mind :)**

**Peace para now, L. **


	2. Fate

**Ello! **

**So, I think this chapter may be posted the same day or the day after the first one. Because I'm a nerdo with no life ^_^**

**but anyways! obviously the story will be different and I hope you enjoy it! And comment, if you please! (that last line is from a very creepy bubble commercial...i strongly suggest you watch it as its hilarious as eff).**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter II.<strong>

"Again, Zuko."

"I'm tired of this, Uncle!" the teen seethed, thrusting his fist into the wall.

Uncle Iroh sighed, crossing his arms. "Zuko, you need to focus. Your mind is elsewhere. You're dancing with your muscles, not your heart and your mind as you should be. Put your soul into it!"

Zuko sighed, falling onto the bench. "I'm tired, Uncle."

"I know. But I am only trying to help."

"I know. I know." He gazed out the small window, watching the world roll by as they sailed through the sea. "I just want to be home."

"And this is how you'll get home, Zuko. Winning the Match for your home country will bring your honor back...but you need to listen."

"...Alright," he says solemnly, staggering to his feet once again.

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><p>"So...where're you from, Aang?" Katara asks, pouring the soup into a whale-bone bowl and handing it over to Aang.<p>

He slurps it. "The Southern Air Temple," he replies, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

"What?" Katara asks, her eyebrowns knitting.

Sokka raises his head from sharpening his machete, a quizical look passing over his face.

"What? What's wrong?" he asks.

"Nobody's lived there for over a hundred years, Aang," Katara mutters. "There's no body there anymore. The Air Nomads..." She trails off.

"They were exterminated," Sokka finishes tentatively. "The Fire Nation, they poisoned them."

"_What_?" Aang asks, the bowl falling from his face. "But...but, that's impossible. I just saw Gyatso and the others a few days ago!"

"Aang," Katara muses. "I don't think it was just a few days. The extermination...that happened a hundred years ago. There's no way you're from that time. You're just a kid."

"I was in the ice?" Aang asks quietly. "I was in the ice for all that time?" He drops the bowl onto the floor, jumping to his feet. "That means...they're all gone?"

As desperation crosses his face, Katara climbs to her feet, to console him, but he's already gone, taken off into the winter wasteland of the South Pole. "Aang!" she shouts, chasing after him.

"Katara! Come back here!" Sokka yelps, picking up his weapon and following her.

The flakes fall at an alarming rate, whirrling around like a freshly shaken snowglobe as Aang runs as fast as his legs can carry him, before he collapses into the growing pile of snow.

Through the wind, he can faintly hear her calling after him.

She stops only a few feet behind him, speaking carefully.

"Aang...come back to the village. You shouldn't be out in this," she advises.

Behind her, Sokka waits and watches.

"What does it matter? They're gone. I can't bring them back," aang says, his hands numbing in the snow.

Katara kneels down, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looks up into her blue eyes before she forcefully pulls him into a hug. He recoils at first before accepting the hug and burying his face into the thick fur lining of her fallen hood.

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><p>"Here," Katara says, wrappign a blanket around his arms. "You need to keep warm."<p>

"I'm fine..." he says, trying to shrug the blanket off. She stops him, dragging it back up onto his shoulders.

"You ran into a blizzard. You need to warm up," she insists.

He nods, wrapping himself up in the blanket, the ice on his eyebrows beginning to thaw. "Katara?" he asks.

She looks up from getting another blanket. "Yeah?"

"How did it happen? My people, I mean?"

Katara sits on her knees, tucking her hands under her legs. "Well, it happened a hundred years ago...so I'm not sure if my story is completely accurate but...my Gran Gran was there when it happened."

Aang nods.

"It was 100 hundred years ago, in the Palace City in the Fire Nation. At the IDM."

"The International Dance Match?" Aang fills in.

"Yeah...you know it?"

"I was going to compete in it," Aang says his eyes staring off into space. He sits in silence, gazing hard until his face transforms. "I remember it now! I was walking on a bridge...no, no, Appa was taking me for a ride and...APPA! Where's Appa?"

"Appa?" Katara asks. "There was someone else in the ice with you?"

"Some_thing_. My flying bison," Aang replies.

"There was no one else there," she says quietly.

"Oh..." he trails.

"Aang," she says, snapping him back to reality.

"Right, right. Sorry. But I was flying with Appa...we fell in the water just a day or two before the Match. That's when I must've frozen."

"That's...that's a miracle, Aang," Katara says, in utter awe.

"It's not a miracle," a soft, aged voice calls from the doorway. The two look up at the hunched over woman, Gran Gran, with Sokka standing behind her. "It's destiny."

"Gran Gran? What're you-?"

"She wanted to see the boy from the iceberg," Sokka explains.

Gran Gran hunches over, squinting into the boy's brown eyes.

"You're from the Air Temples, aren't you?" she asks.

"Yes...how did you know?"

"I used to be friends with an Air Nomd, when I was just a little girl. I'd know the eyes anywhere. And by the looks of your pointed toes, I'd say you're a dancer, correct?"

"Yeah," Aang says, amazed by the woman's sagacity.

"You're the Avatar, aren't you?"

Initial shock crosses Aang's face before he nods, slowly.

"Gran Gran, wh at do you mean by 'destiny'?" Katara asks, intrigued.

Gran Gran settles herself onto the pelt floor. "Fate brought you two together for a reason. Katara, what has your dream been since you were young?"

"Well, to compete in the IDM but-" she starts.

"Exactly. This young dancer can help you," Gran Gran says. "And you, young one, my granddaughter is a healer. Let her help you mend your life together again, let her help you piece together what was once broken and shattered. You've needed one another, and the universe has delivered you to eachother. Now your destinies are intertwined."

The two exchange a glance.

"Well...where does that leave me, Gran?" Sokka asks cautiously, trying not to come across as selfish.

She smiles. "You, my grandson, must watch over your sister."

"That's it?" he asks, slightly irritated. "There's nothing spectacular? No fantastic destiny?"

She laughs lightly. "Sokka, no one can know the true nature of the unpredictable. But its up to you to take fate up on it's offer. You can't sit idle and wait for something to happen. That's why you'll accompany your sister and the Avatar on their trip."

"Gran, the tournament's in Ba Sing Se," Katara reminds her. "We'll never make it in time."

A sudden roar pierces the blizzard air and a smile crosses Aang's face. He leaps to his feet. "Oh yes we will!"

He scrambles out through the tent, followed by Katara and Sokka in a reprise of his latest meltdown. But the siblings stop short as the Avatar leaps foward, landing in a hug on the giant bison's face.

"Fate," Gran Gran muses, as the others laugh at the site of the Avatar being covered in the bison's snot after a sneeze, "is a beautiful thing."

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><p><strong>Okie doke. So, this chapter was probably my least favorite to write. :P<strong>

**BUT! the next one introduces Toph, my favorite!**

**Aaand, for those of you concerned with shipping, here's what I'm planning:**

**Kataang**

**Maiko**

**A bit of tension for Zutara (?)**

**TOKKA. (sorry sukka fans, but that's my main ship and ya'll need to deal with it ^_^)**

**um...not sure what else but Teo will be in this too with a special twist to him!**

**PEace, L.**


	3. Outside of the Wall

**Yo, folks! :)**

**So, I've decided to proscrastinate on my APUSH reading assignment because I'm excited for this chapter. Know why?...IT'S A TOPH CHAPTER! ^_^**

**And I'd seriously love to thank Spry for the awesome reviews! (The name of that bubble commercial, by the way, was 'Shiny Suds'. **

**Enjoy-th!**

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><p><strong>Chapter III.<strong>

The sweat pours from her face as she spins on the ball of her foot, the other bent and resting on her knee. She's prefect, and she knows it, and the sheer shock of those around her is enough to make her feel like one in a million.

And that's exactly what she is. The music changes tempo, the band picking up speed and sound, playing with their hearts and neglecting the sheet music. Toph feels the genders part, boys on one side, girls on another. She follows the wave of women flowing to the left, bounding on her toes. One girl gets pulled out of the competition, another moron who forgot the rules. Only dancing is permitted on the dance floor. She's one of few left; there's herself and six other girls and four other boys.

The music jumps like the heart of a fratntic baby badgermole's. The seedy clubhouse rocks as the music lingers in the night time air and they all jump and twirl, stomping on their landings, not even bothering to hide what they're doing. It's who they are.

Toph's heard of places that don't dance. That it's taboo and frowned upon. And to her, it's all too familiar. She's blind and not allowed outside the confines of her home but yet she sneaks out everynight to compete in these dance competitions. And ever since the ripe age of ten, she hasn't lost yet. They call her the Blind Bandit for the simple reason she's blind...she's also an enigma, disappearing before anyone can talk to her or follow her.

Two more have already been pulled as she launches into an impressive cartwheel, spinning upon landing on her feet again. The boys have formed a stomping gang now, before jumping and whirling with their backs parallel to the ground. The other girls have picked up the skirts of their robes and dresses, kicking their legs into space with coy yet competitive smiles. Toph's in her own little world, between the groups, kicking her legs into perfect angles before blowing the minds of every on-looker with a move she's been practicing for weeks in the privacy of her room: a standing split. She can't help but smile triumphantly as the contestants stop to watch, before she topples foward, summer-saulting onto her feet again, and adding a spin for flair.

Applause erupts around her as she places her hands on her hip, while the clubhouse's owner, Xin Fu, rewards her with the belt she's had in her possession for the last two years. With that, as the after party commenses, she slips out into the cool summer night.

She locks the belt around her as she slips along the back sides of the homes and businesses, through the shadowy alleyways. Home is within her grasp as the sweat evaporates. Toph crawls through the crack in the wall of her family's estate, climbing in through her window. But as she straddles the window, her heart drops, as the voices of her parents boom with unapproval.

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><p>The music pulses like fire. It speeding through Zuko's viens like a drug and he's hooked.<p>

He rolls onto his back, pops his spine like it's made of rubber, flying high and lands on his hands. He balances on two hands, then one, then jumps on his palm, bending and flexing his legs. He stands up again, wiping his matted, shaggy hair, looking at himself with raw determination as he takes two steps back. From there he runs and slides on his shins, spinning onto his back and twisting his legs to propel him in circles (**AN: this move is supposed to be similar to the one he did while having an Agni Kai with Azula in the finale**). He doesn't have any music, and he doesn't need any. All that, it's just for show.

Suddenly, the empty Ba Sing Se studio has a clap echoing through it.

"My, my, Mai told me you were good, but I didn't think it could be true," the chilling voice muses sadistically.

His eyes grow like saucers as he staggers to his feet. "Azula? What're you doing here?"

"Competing, of course," she says. "I heard you were entering the IDM and as soon as your ship took off, I followed suit. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't notice my ship but one hundred feet behind yours. But then again, all those years with Uncle has probably made you dull."

He scowls. "If you've come here to beat me, then good. I need the insentive."

"Oh, brother, brother, don't you know me at all?" She saunters over with that unnervingly calm stride of hers. "I'm not here to beat you." She places a hand on his shoulder, leaning close to his ear. "I'm here to _destory _you," she whispers.

Leaving it at that, she swiftly exits the studio, leaving Zuko to cope with his wrenching gut.

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><p>"There it is!" Katara shouts, leaning far over the side of Appa's saddle. Aang joins her, letting his reigns flop wildly.<p>

"Aang!" Sokka shrieks, lunging for the reins, to ensure they don't careen into the rocky ground below.

"Don't worry, Sokka," Aang ensures. "We've been here a hundred times. Appa knows where he's going."

Appa flies towards the gate into Ba Sing Se, where no body but a single girl waits outside. Though, she isn't exactly waiting.

They slide out of Appa's saddle while she busies herself by pounding her fists on the great stone wall.

"Hey! Who do you think you are! I _walked_ all the way from Gaoling and this is how you treat me? Denying me access? The Bei Fongs will not be pleased to hear you've turned away their only blind daughter!"

On the top of the wall, the guard shouts something inaudible, though the black-haired girl seems to catch it perfectly.

"Yeah? Well, screw you, too, pal!" she shouts back, waving her fist in the air.

She turns on her heel, strutting past the gang.

"Good luck getting inside," the girl says. She turns back towards the wall once more, yelling, "THE GUY'S A PRICK!"

"They won't let you in?" Aang asks.

"No," she says, crossing her arms. "Something about a visa."

"...We don't have visas, either," Katara says quietly.

"Well, no visa, no Ba Sing Se. I would've taken them all down, too."

"Taken who down?" Sokka asks.

"The competition."

Katara's eyes sparkle. "You're entering the Match, too?"

"Sure am," she boasts.

"Well...we can fly over," Aang says, crawling back onto Appa.

"_Fly_?" the blind girl scoffs. "You're crazy."

"No, really," Aang says from Appa's saddle. "He's a flying bison. I'm from the Air Temple."

She crosses her arms before Sokka pipes up. "I was skeptical at first, too, but trust me when I say this...beast flies."

She doesn't say anything, unconvinced.

He sighs. "Look, you don't believe me? Come on," Sokka says, grabbing her hand.

"Let go of me!" she shouts, yanking her arm away.

"What? You _don't _want to get into Ba Sing Se?" he counters. Reluctantly, she follows him up to the large, fuzzy bison.

Katara and Sokka pull the girl into the saddle, Aang issues a 'Yip Yip' before they soar higher and higher over the wall.

"I don't like this," the girl says, clamping her eyes shut and grasping the saddle's edge with white knuckles. "I like it on the ground where I can see!"

"I thought you said you were blind?" Katara asks.

"I am. But I use the vibrations in the Earth to see," she explains.

"What's your name?" Sokka asks.

"Toph Bei Fong," she introduces. "Broadway dancer extrodinaire. You?"

"I'm Sokka," he says, raising his hand and pointing to himself with his thumb. "That's my contemporary dancer sister, Katara, and Aang, the ballet dancer."

"I thought ballet dancers were extinct?" Toph says, crossing her legs.

"They were. Until we discovered him in a block of ice," Katara says.

"Hm," Toph says, taking it all in. "So, what? You don't dance?"

"Nope," Sokka says. Suddenly, he flexes his arms, adding, "Not very manly."

"That and he has absoultely no sense of rythym," Katara pokes with a smile.

They all laugh at Sokka's expense as they fly over the Ba Sing Se Arena.

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><p><strong>So, the dancing thing goes like this: <strong>

**Toph is a broadway dancer. I really wanted her to be less "SMILE JAZZ HANDS!" and more 'West Side Story' Mambo loud dancer. Like, she's really a show off sometimes. She's also goign to invent a sub-genre of dance like she did with Earth and Metalbending. **

**Katara's super graceful and a contemporary dancer. If you've ever seen So You Think You Can Dance, you know what I be talking about. **

**Aang's a ballet dancer, simple enough, and Zuko is a B-Boy because I remember him doing all sorts of twisting and rolling and what not on the show while fire bending so I thought, yeah, that's good. Azula is going to be a tango dancer, all super controlled and perfect, and Mai and Ty Lee (if they compete) are hip hop dancers. **

**But I've rambled enough, so!**

**Peace, L. **


	4. Practice

**So I didn't think that I'd be very good at writing out these dance scenes but hey, I'm better at them then action fighting scenes. _Those _I am terrible at. ^_^**

**But anyways, I'm uber pumped to write my Tokka scenes. I love me some Tokka! **

**And I was wondering if you think I should use real songs from nowadays during the IDM. What do you think?**

**Enjoy! oy! Oy! oy!**

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><p><strong>Chapter IV.<strong>

He skulks the halls of the practice studio, ready to prowl for some flexible, beautiful dancers. With his hands clasped behind his back and a whistle passing between his lips, Sokka swags his way down the marble hallway.

Most of the rooms are locked and blocked, the faint sound of the accompanying musician plucking or hitting their instrument on the other side. He wants to barge right in, but knowing these Earth Kingom girls, that'd get him a swift kick in the teeth. Damn high kicks.

But one door, he discovers, is wide open, the sound of a fiddle raging wildly eminating through the hallways. He follows the sound, enticed, poking his head in through the threshold.

There she is. Toph and a younger kid, wearing a helmet and plucking his fiddle. He's paying no mind to her, just focusing on his music, while she concentrates on herself, dancing like her spirit is trying to break out of her body. Her hair is matted with sweat as she spins, stops, spins, stops, spins, and stops. He can make out her faintly scolding herself: "Attack it. Attack it." She shakes her hands out, shakes her head out of frustration before hiking her leg up into the air, leaning back, like she's doing a split in mid air. But there's an added hazard of falling backwards instead of fowards now, where she could roll and save herself.

She falters after a moment of perfection, falling flat on her arse. She grunts, slamming her fist into the ground. The boy has stopped to take note of her anger, to which she quickly demands he continue playing. Slowly he starts up and she runs through the routine again, spin, spin, spin. Stop. Lift leg. This time she catches herself before she can hit the floor with a loud thud but it doesn't sound pleasant when her forearms smack audibly against the stone. She groans, setting her head on the cold floor for a moment, cooling off, taking a deep breath.

"What're you doing here?" the boy asks, noticing Sokka. He sets his fiddle down. "This is a private practice."

Toph lifts her head, noticing his footsteps for the first time. She hurriedly pulls herself to her feet. "Hey," she says, trying to hide her frustration.

"Hey," he says back. "That was amazing. That split-move-thing. Did you...come up with that?"

"Yeah," she replies. "It started with a foward split but it got too easy. So I'm doing it backwards now."

"Wow," he mutters.

"Have you ever tried dancing?" Toph asks, picking up a rag and wiping her head and neck.

"Wha? Yeah and I suck at it," Sokka says bashfully.

"Nobody sucks...I could teach you, you know," she says after a moment of forethought.

"No way. Katara says I'm unteachable," he says, plopping to the floor. She tosses the rag aside, extending her hand out to him.

"Nobody's unteachable," she says faintly. Her eyes glower in the shade her hair creates and his heart skips a beat as he reaches for her hand. She pulls him to his feet and he looks down at her, several heads taller, with every ounce of swag having been left in the hallway.

"Duke," she says, "play 'Ember Island Fire'."

"I told you, it's THE Duke," he protests before picking up his fiddle and plucking the strings. Toph confidently takes his hand and pulls him close, their bodies touching. He can feel her heartbeat radiating through her chest and he's so worried she can feel his.

"As far as basics go, classical is as easy as it gets. Water tribe kids, I know, waltz. One, two, three, four," she muses, trying to show him the steps.

He tries to follow her painfully simple instructions, but constantly finds himself in a tangle with her legs and his own, his two left feet clumsily landing over her bare ones. After minutes of stumbling, she pushes him away, sighing.

"See, I told you," he says, "unteachable."

"No, you're not unteachable," she retorts, running her fingers through her bangs. "You're just...uninspired. Come to the practice today. You'll want to dance then."

He nods.

"But until then," she says, cracking her knuckles, "we'll be going over these steps. I've heard baby lion turtles can do this dance. If they can, so can you. Remember, meat head, one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four..."

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><p><strong>An uber short chapter because the next few will be uber long. ^_^<strong>

**I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Peace out girl scout, L.**


	5. Group Dynamics

**So, Im staying up till three since i've been going to sleep early lately and i want to see if i can still do it. **

**So please bear/bare (?) with me if i'm all over the place!**

**Enjoy-th my fellow chums!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter V.<strong>

"The competition is a lot more intimidating than I thought it'd be," Katara whispers to Aang as they climb the steps to the almost vacant stage. The other contestants, while lacking in quantity, have an overabundance of quality. There are a meager five boys including Aang, and an overall of six girls. Eleven competitiors, seven days, one winner.

Katara follows closely next to Aang, delighted to have a familiar face in the mix. Toph sits on the far side of the stage, sitting in a 'butterfly' stretch, the bottoms of her dirt-stained feet pressed together and brought as close to her body as possible. Aand stretches as Katara halfheartedly cracks her neck, examining the others with an unatural maticulousness.

Finally, after an eerily silent stretching session, the curtain is pushed aside and in files in four judges, all from different nations. The ever-regal princess of the Northern Water Tribe, Yue; the ancient twins from the Fire Nation, Lo and Li; and the sullen Long Feng of the Earth Kingdom.

"Hello everyone," Long Feng says monotonously.

A round of 'hello's are shot back.

"Welcome, you brave souls," says Lo.

"To the International Dance Match," finishes Li.

"We're all greatly honored that you all could attend and we wish you the best of luck," Yue finishes diplomatically.

"Now, if you'd all please file off stage, as we'd like to see what you're all individually capable of," Long Feng says, shifting through pieces of parchment. "First, I'd like to see...a Ms. Ty Lee of the Fire Nation."

They watch from the stadium seating as a beautiful girl with a brunette braid literally cartwheels on stage.

"What's your genre, Ty Lee?" Lo asks.

"Hm?" she asks in an enticingly daft voice.

"The style of your dance," Yue explains.

"Oh, I dance hip hop," she says adding, "though it could qualify as 'b-boy'."

The music begins to play, an array of drums beating in time as she pops and locks her arms, holding them out like she's stopping an intruder. Like lightning, she twists into a back-hand spring, spinning before stopping herself like she's got a built-in emergency brake.

Ty Lee places her hands on her heart, pumping her chest foward to create a beating effect as a heart broken expression crosses her face. She opens her arms as if to embrace someone, before mechanically pulling them into fists at her sides, turning her head in disgust. She busts into a faster pace, moving her arms in perfect synch with her head and legs. Her arms clasp over her head as she gyrates her hips. Ty Lee casts an arm out straight before reaching for her heart again, only to repeat the heart beat. As the last note drags on, her arm grows further and further from her body, before she hits herself in the chest, falling onto her back with the bang of a drum.

The appalause is deafening as she blows a coy kiss to the crowd, skipping off-stage to take her seat.

"Next is...Haru of the Earth Kingdom."

He mounts the stage, grinning beneath his rather well maintained mustache.

From there, the competition officially begins as each contestant surveys the other and their incredible dancing technigques.

Haru flaunts his jazzy side while Katara dances like she's made of water, flowing like an ocean tide. A dark girl named Mai pops and locks fantastically but without any expression on her face before a boy from the Northern Air Temple named Teo dances on a pair of rollerskates. Toph runs through a familiar routine, sticking to her foward split, still stunning everyone but herself. Aanf points his toes as if they were tooth picks and charms everyone with his otherwise extinct ballet after a rowdy kid named Jet boasts his broadway skills. The Fire Nation sibilings have attended as well, Zuko remembering Uncle Iroh's wise words as Azula danced a perfect solo tango (though no one had any idea it was possible).

The judges give their props to the contestants before proceeding to divide them up.

"Although we obviously cannot pair up everyone under an individual genre of dance, we can, however, pair you up based on abilities and strengths. The first round is self-coreographed as always. The show is tomorrow night. Now the groups will go as such..." Long Feng drones.

"Group one," Yue coos, "is a trio of Jet, Katara, and Aang."

"The second," Li says, reading off a piece of parchment, "is a group of four that consists of-"

"Toph, Mai, Teo, and Zuko," Lo finishes.

"And the last group will be made up of the remaining dancers: Ty Lee, Azula, and Haru," Long Feng says before dismissing them to the practice rooms.

Toph follows alongside Aang and Toph as they meet with Sokka at his seat in the stands.

"I'm so glad we're in the same group," Katara squeals, latching onto Aang's forearm. He giggles lightly, a red blush creeping onto his face.

"Y-yeah, me, too," he giggles nervously.

"Ugh, you two speak for yourself. I'm with four people I've never met..." Toph fumes silently.

Sokka chuckles. "I'm sure you'll be fine. I mean, you'll probably blow them outta the water, anyways."

Toph mumbles a thank you her face pointing down to hide the blush creeping into her cheeks. A fist flies out and hits Sokka's forearm. He winces, rubbing it with a hushed "ow".

* * *

><p>"So..." Jet trails off, digging the dirt out of his nail.<p>

"So," Katara breaths curtly.

"What song do you guys want to do?" Aang asks, breaking the unfamiliar tension.

"I don't know," Jet shrugs.

"Something that compliments all three of us,"Katara says, aiding Aang. "You dance broadway don't you?"

Jet looks up for the first time, grinning. "Yeah."

She nods. Aang snaps beside her, a smile prying on his face.

"I've got an idea," he chimes. The others' eyes fall on him and he takes it as a cue to continue. "Well, I'm ballet, you're contemporary, and Jet, you're broadway, right?"

"Right," they both reply.

"Well, I know just the song..." Aang grins, his face the epitome of excitment.

* * *

><p>A laugh splits the air of the nearly-vacant studio, before the door swings open.<p>

Toph and Teo cease their laughter as darkly-clad girl, Mai, steps inside.

"Hey," Teo says, smiling.

She shoots him an intimidating look. "Hey." Mai travels to the wall, plopping down with her legs in a butterfly position. Just five feet from her, a melancholy 'hey' calls to her. She smiles, something that doesn't happen often.

"Zuko," she reguards formally.

"Mai," he replies.

"Toph," the blind bandit says, sticking her thumb into her chest.

"Teo," the skater adds.

"Now that we all know one another," Toph says before any more mysterious greeting can be said, "let's get to work. What song do you want to dance to?"

Zuko shrugs. "You pick." He looks off into the wall. "I'm too tired right now."

"You want to win, don't you?" she replies, her voice thick with sass.

"Well...yes, but-"

"Then you need to have a hand in this," the little girl informs him. "Dancing is about what's in the heart and mind. It's not 'oh-la-dee-da-whatever'."

Her quick little quip ignites a flame within him, her beliefes strikingly similar to those of Uncle Iroh.

The prince cracks his knuckles, nodding.

* * *

><p>"We'll be doing a very tightly-coreographed dance to the tune of 'Requim'," Azula informs them.<p>

"We don't get a say?" Haru asks, his hand falling from his brilliantly-groomed mustache.

She examines him like he's a pest for a moment, before her hands gracefully clasp behind her back and she closes her eyes. "I am a winner," she begins. "I do not lose. I refuse to lose and I refuse to let you two drag me down. So, I have taken the liberty of choosing a song."

Ty Lee and Haru exchange a confused look as they sit on the marble floor, before submissively nodding to Azula to begin her coreography.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, I rushed to finish this chapter (if you couldn't tell...not my finest, that's for sure) because I'm always excited about the next chapter.<strong>

**Hopefully, it works out! ^_^**

**P.s. The review monster is getting quite hungry after going into hibernation during the summer. Don't judge him for sleeping in the summer...heat makes him sleepy. **

**Peace, L. **


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